Margot Robbie knew Harley Quinn’s potential, and an amazing new DC comic proves it

09.09.2023 - 15:11 / polygon.com / Harley Quinn / Margot Robbie / New

Writer Kelly Thompson knew that the most controversial member of her Batman-adjacent Birds of Prey team would be Harley Quinn. That would seem strange to anyone familiar with the movie of the same name, which owes its existence to Harley Quinn actor Margot Robbie. Robbie parlayed her clout as a Suicide Squad breakout into a girl gang film, and as it was DC’s only all-female superhero team, the Birds of Prey was the natural fit.

But here’s the thing: Harley has never actually been on the comic book version of the Birds of Prey, until now. And despite the movie precedent, Thompson still expected Harley’s spot on the team to cause the biggest commotion. “Harley is definitely the most divisive,” she told ComicBook.com in July. “She’s sort of got the most fans, but she also has the most haters.”

And if you’re a Harley Quinn hater, you probably feel like you’re seeing her everywhere. There’s her self-titled cartoon show, wrapping up its fourth season, as well as her ongoing self-titled comic series, her monochrome anthology series Harley Quinn Black + White + Red, her guest appearances in series like Poison Ivy and Dark Knights of Steel, multiple tie-in miniseries set in the show’s continuity, and tons of DC’s YA graphic novels and Black Label books.

But if this week’s actual comic Birds of Prey #1 proves anything, it’s that there’s still plenty of things to say about Harley Quinn. And it said it in maybe the best first issue of a new series I’ve read all year.

For Birds of Prey, Thompson is working with artist Leonardo Romero and colorist Jordie Bellaire, the creative team that made the cult hit Hawkeye (no, the other one). That familiarity is paying dividends. Romero’s clear lines and distinct silhouettes spark against Bellaire’s neon marker washes that don’t much care if they pop out of the lines sometimes. The approach gives the whole book a retro, four-color printing feel right out of last-century comics.

It’s a treat for the eyes from back to front, as Romero’s fight choreography — an important skill for a book full of reformed ninjas and alien swordswomen — is given several brilliant showcases. And all that action doesn’t come at the expense of everything else, either. In just 28 pages, Thompson makes sure we know everything we need to about these Birds of Prey, and more importantly, just the right facts to want to know what happens next.

Our story is a classic: Black Canary’s estranged sister is in secret, deadly danger, and she’s got to put a secret, near-deadly team together. She gets her top draft picks: Batgirl (the one who was raised as a silent assassin), Big Barda (alien warrior demigod), and Zealot. The problem, raised in the opening pages of the book, is that Canary needs someone “in